Regional summit is planned for a former hot-spot for growth.

Michael W. Freeman is a veteran journalist, playwright and author. Born and raised in Fall River, Massachusetts, he has lived in Orlando since 2002. Michael has worked for some of Florida's largest newspapers, including The Orlando Sentinel. His original plays have draw strong audiences at the Orlando Fringe Festival. He is the author of the novels "Bloody Rabbit" and "Koby's New Home."

Members of the Four Corners Area Council discuss their upcomin regional summit during their July meeting at Championsgate. (Photo by Michael Freeman). FOUR CORNERS – Ever since the housing market collapsed in 2008, there’s been an assumption by many that growth is no longer a major issue in Central Florida.
After all, houses are no longer being built at a rapid pace, and in some areas there’s still an inventory of unsold homes that were constructed in the past decade when the market was soaring.
So without the pressure that rapid development puts on local resources, local communities should, in theory, be experiencing fewer growing pains.
But Hector Lizasuain doesn’t see it that way, and neither does Gene Terrico.
What they see is an area like Four Corners, where the counties of Polk, Lake, Orange and Osceola come together along two major highways, U.S. 27 and U.S. 192. Both highways have become popular tourist spots, with new shopping plazas on U.S. 192, and a growing number of vacation home resorts along U.S. 192.
And even if few if any new homes are getting built here, the ones that did get constructed between 2004 and 2007 brought so many newcomers to the region that growth pressures are still alive and well, Lizasuain said.
Lizasuain is Osceola County’s West 192 coordinator, and he’s also a member of the Four Corners Area Council, a group of business owners in the Four Corners region who meet on a monthly basis.
For the second time, the council has scheduled a regional summit, aimed at bringing together the government leaders from all four counties, as well as some of the region’s top business leaders, to talk about the unmet needs in the Four Corners area.
The summit will be held on Thursday, Nov. 1 at 1 p.m. at ChampionsGate Golf Resort.
“We’re going to be partnering with the Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber on this,” Lizasuain said. The Kissimmee/Osceola County Chamber is the parent company of the Four Corners Area Council.
The council has held regional summits in the past. Four Corners is made up of unincorporated sections of four separate counties, and the residents living there are not particularly close to their county government offices.
For residents of Northeast Polk County in unincorporated Davenport, those offices are in Bartow. For South Lake County residents in unincorporated Clermont, those offices are up in Tavares.
Northeast Osceola County residents need to visit downtown Kissimmee, while for Orange County residents, the offices are in downtown Orlando.
Often times, Lizasuain said, these residents feel they’re not getting the attention they need from their government leaders, and there are challenges that still need to be addressed.
“We already know what the topics will be” at the summit, he said. They include water resources, redevelopment, and transportation.
Terrico, the chairman of the Four Corners Area Council, said the summit is needed because the Four Corners area grew so quickly, that government leaders are still playing catch up with local residents’ needs.
Polk County just did that when it opened a new regional park in Davenport, right off U.S. 27 and a sort distance from the U.S. 192 exit. That was the first public park built in Four Corners, and it opened this spring.
Water is also an issue, particularly in Lake County, Lizasuain said, where the demand for water exceeds what is available.
Paul Senft, a former Polk County commissioner who is now Haines City’s economic development director, said he could help the council find ways to address water issues.
”I’m chair of the Southwest Florida Water board, and I can help on the water issues,” Senft said.
In addition, the council has been working with the counties to get more public transportation to the area, Lizasuain said.
”From (U.S.) 27 to the (Florida) Turnpike, we’re working on an agreement between Lake and Orange (counties) on a Lynx bus route,’’ Lizasuain said.

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Michael Freeman

Editor and Publisher at Freeline Productions LLCI have 22 years of experience in print journalism, having worked for a decade as a news reporter for an urban daily in Massachusetts, and then as an editor for a 38,000 circulation weekly newspaper in Central Florida. My background ranges from being a general assignment reporter to hiring writers, photographers, graphic artists and web designers. I have a solid background in all aspects of journalism, and now operate an online daily magazine. I belong to that field known as the "team players"; I work best when I can recruit and inspire excellent supporting staff to collaborate with me on projects that deliver solid results. I have have the ability to meet super-tight deadlines, a key ingredient to being successful in this field.